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Inside CBK's tough balancing act on loan costs

CBKwill be holding the first Monetary Policy Committee meeting of 2026 since it cut the Central Bank Rate in December 2025. [File, Standard]

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) faces a high-stakes decision on interest rates on Tuesday, caught between a cooling economy, a massive government borrowing plan, and mounting political pressure to deliver affordable credit ahead of next year's General Elections.

This will be the first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of this year since it cut the Central Bank Rate (CBR) by 25 basis points to 9.00 per cent in December 2025. 

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